Note 184 — Chapter VI · 1562-1564

The marriage of the unfortunate Lady Catharine Grey with Lord Hertford—the eldest son of Somerset—was contracted secretly, and when the birth of a son made the matter public, the Queen was intensely indignant, and refused to acknowledge the union, both Lord and Lady Hertford being committed to the Tower. Guzman says that Cecil brought about the marriage; but there is no evidence whatever of this. Lord Hertford was in Paris with Cecil’s son, Thomas, when the affair was discovered, and was recalled in haste by the Queen. As soon as Cecil heard of it, he warned his son not to associate with Hertford. Cecil wrote to his friend Smith at the same time, “I pray that God may by this chance give her Majesty a disposition to consider hereof (i.e. the succession), that either by her marriage or by some common order we her poor subjects may know where to lean and adventure our lives with content to our consciences.” Greatly to Cecil’s annoyance the question of Catharine’s guilt was referred to him for examination and report. He assured Smith in a letter that he would judge impartially, and he did so; for Parker, the Archbishop, on his report, pronounced against the marriage, but Cecil continued on close terms of intimacy with the Grey family, who all called him cousin (Lady Cecil’s brother married Catharine Grey’s cousin), and certainly favoured Lady Catharine’s claims under the will of Henry VIII. Cecil cautiously did his best to soften the punishment, and finally obtained the removal of both husband and wife from the Tower into private custody. Many letters on the subject from the Greys to Cecil will be found in Lansdowne MSS. 2.